23 May - 29 May 1996

Each week McSpotlight will be updated on how the world's press has covered McLibel, McDonald's and multinationals in general.

You, me, and our McLife

23rd May 1996, IKON TV
(Netherlands)

From Zoe in Netherlands on the "McLife" discussion programme:
"'Fraid it was a complete disaster. It was supposed to be a critical
program, but McLibel and McSpotlight didn't get more than half a minute
altogether. DWARS [an environmental group] was represented by someone who
didn't get many points across, while the head of McDonald's Netherlands came
out with lots of propaganda. It ended up as a big commercial for McDonald's
on all possible levels."

"Burgering about on the Web"

May 1996, ON Magazine
(UK)

By Alex Brattell (alex@zetetic.co.uk)
Now that the mad cow thing has slipped from view, it's easy to forget that
the McLibel trial, Britain's longest libel trial is still going on. Updates
can be found, provided by the McLibel Support Campaign
(http://www.gold.interlog.com/eye/Misc/McLibel/). The allegedly defamatory
document against McDonald's that started the whole thing has now been
published on the net, courtesy of the Arts Council, as part of a
downloadable floppy for Apple Mac called "Life is Bait". Artists Paul
Trevor and Jason Lewis have collaborated on an interactive computer piece on
the McLibel Trial for the Arts Council's Emotional Computing series. Life
is Bait can be found on the Hub Club website
(www.ace.mdx.ac.uk/Hub/HubTub.html).

There's another big McDonald's court case going on in the States - the
infamous McDonald's scalding coffee case. There have been more than 700
claims by people burned by McDonald's coffee between 1982 and 1992. It's
dangerous stuff, find out if it's worth it at
http://www.seamless.com/consumer/mcdonald.html.
You can also find out how to "Screw over your local McDonald's" (an excerpt
from Phrack magazine) at
http://www.garlic.com/~ribarbe/.

The McInformation Network is another source of veggie background info, a
reply to the alleged $1.4 billion a year that McDonald's spend worldwide on
promoting themselves. The McInformation homepage, less than keen on eating
cows that have to eat themselves is at
http://www.mcspotlight.org/home.html.

McDonald's has a newsgroup devoted to it, alt.mcdonald's, that discusses
McMuffins, McPizzas and all those other lil guys. Get the wonderfully
trivial FAQ for the newsgroup on
http://www.seas.gwu.edu/student/kmhebert/alt.mcdonalds.html.
McDonald's of Austria lead the way in the few McDonald's corporate homepages
outside the US, followed by McDonald's of Sweden and of Finland (none of
these are in English). Ronald McDonald, of course, is all heart - if you
want to donate some money to sick children, you can do it at the Ronald
McDonald House Walk of Love (yes, that's what it's called) at
http://www.fala.com/ronald.html.

For evidence on what burgers do to your brain, check out the home page of
the McDonald Family of New Mexico, meet daughter Libby and learn about the
First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque. Or try the McDonald Family of South
Africa (http://www.nis.za/homepgs/sallie3.htm) who also have adorable
children and lots of useful links on poultry farming.

18th May 1996, Freedom
(UK)

"McLibel: 250 days of failure for McDonald's"

"McLibel Two's city back-up"

23rd May 1996, Evening Post,
Nottingham (UK)

Nottingham is the hub of support for the "McLibel Two" - mainly because
local co-operative Veggies was threatened with action over a similar leaflet
- and a Nottingham lawyer is running the support campaign.

Mr Morris says "The people from Veggies in Nottingham are fantastic. A lot
of their help is moral support, and things like photocopying or looking
after my son."

One helper, Justin, hitch-hiked to London to help out. He said: "I went
down for just over a week. When I got there I was helping take Dave's son
Charlie to school, making food, helping carry things to court, doing
research, lots of photocopying, taking phone messages and sending e-mails."

The London-based McLibel Support Campaign is run by Notts lawyer Dan Mills
from a London flat. Mr Mills, 27, manages the centre, liasing with the
international press, arranging interviews and co-ordinating campaigns.

There are around 15 active supporters in the Nottingham McLibel Support
Campaign which is co-ordinated through the Rainbow Centre on Mansfield Road.

"Anarchy puts its house in order"

26th May 1996, The Observer
(UK)

What do the following have in common: Ronald McDonald, a sandpapered
testicle, a three-sided football match, Luis Bunuel and space travel? The
answer is that they are all on the agenda at Hackney Anarchy Week.

This is a celebration of DIY culture that marks new interest in an ideology
most had written off as dead or - in the year the Sex Pistols re-formed -
sold out. Not true, say the 'organisers' of Britain's biggest anarchist
bash, who promise activities as diverse as a punk picnic, an anti-fascist
football-match (no right-wingers) and a workshop on the Unabomber manifesto.

The McLibel Trial will be discussed, along with sexual freedom and the
Operation Spanner case.

Anarchy - they insist - is alive and well and living in the UK. from the
Twyford Down, Newbury and M11 protests to the anti-veal campaign, to the new
frontiers of cyberspace, a new kind of anarchy is abroad - one that would
have Tolstoy, Emma Goldman, Bukanin or the Barcelona syndicalists spinning
in their graves.

"McDonald's Unmasked"

June 1996, Red Pepper
(UK)

"The reason Japanese people are so short and have yellow skins is because
they have eaten nothing but fish and rice for two thousand years - if we eat
McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years we will become
taller, our skin become white and our hair blonde."

This statement, read
out in the High court, would have been considered overtly racist had it not
come from a Japanese native. However, Den Fujita works for a multinational
corporation and, as president of McDonald's Japan, is making it clear that
national identity runs a subordinate second to corporate loyalty.

The
political significance of his statement is that Fujita's condition is fast
becoming a worldwide phenomenon as multinationals manoeuvre ever-larger
proportions of the global economy. An understanding of the techniques used
to dominate the global market should therefore be of acute political
interest to those with an eye on future superpowers. And nowhere can this
interest be more readily awarded than with a review of the longest and most
extensive corporate grilling ever, the McLibel trial.

With driven global ambitions and a responsibility for nothing but its own
economic success, a future manipulated by multinationals is a frightening
prospect. For this reason the two McLibel defendants, with no legal aid,
have devoted the last five years to providing a rare opportunity to
scrutinise a multinational corporation. There are few other forums for
corporate accountability in which money will not buy allegiance.

Small is beautiful

June 1996, Everywoman
(UK)

"Small is beautiful - Lorna Russell talks to Helen Steel, currently playing
David to McDonald's multinational Goliath"

If Steel and Morris lose, their court costs could be millions of pounds.
"We could get money taken out of wages or income support," says Steel. "And
if McDonald's get their injunction to prevent further distribution of the
leaflet and we still distribute it, we could be jailed for contempt of court."

"This is about creating a totally different kind of society, without
exploitation, and the meat industry is one part of that," says Steel. We
want people to have control of their own lives rather than having them
dictated by the Government or big business. If people have alternative
information about a company, they can make their own decisions."

Last Week in the Media

16 May - 22 May - A quiet week: 'An American Cowboy in London' profiles McLibel witness Howard Lyman9 May - 15 May - 'McMyths about McJobs': Strange Spectator article defends low-paid work for young people2 May - 8 May - Busy week, with McLibel featured on satirical TV show and analysis of McDonald's stranglehold over the UK24 April - 1 May - Highlight of the week: George Monbiot's Guardian on the absurdities of Britain's libel laws16 April - 23 April - Howard Lyman causes a storm on the Oprah Winfrey Show when Oprah pledges to give up burgers5 April - 15 April - A quiet week, but with interesting legal analysis from Legal Action16 March - 4 April - The BSE in beef crisis explodes, the media is saturated with McDonald's decision to ban British beef9 March - 15 March - Sensational five-page colour feature in the UK's Guardian Weekend on the McLibel Trial and McSpotlight2 March - 8 March - The world's press takes an interest in McSpotlight - articles in USA Today, Observer and Legal Action24 February - 1 March - Lots of mentions for McLibel. McSpotlight makes 'Global Hero' for March 199617 - 23 February - Great headlines, media people: 'Big Mac's Critics Connect On Line', 'Burger Giant Under McSpotlight'...11 - 16 February - Our first week - not much press. Little did they know...